Luna and Rolf's Extraordinary Girl
by Jadyne Farrow
Summary: It's known that Luna had 2 boys, but did you know she had a girl 3 years later? Follow Lydia Scamander as she navigates being autistic, her first year at Hogwarts, and discovering many, many dark secrets about herself.
1. chapter 1

**6 am**

An eleven-year-old blonde haired girl with blue-grey eyes shot up in bed as she realized what day it was. The first day of September! She reached for her glasses and nearly broke them, putting them on her face. This excited ball of energy was none other than Lydia Scamander; the daughter of the wizarding world's two greatest naturalists/magizoologists of their time.

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" she squealed as she jumped up and down on Lorcan's bed beside hers.

"It's the first of September!"

"Quiet down, Lydia," Lysander grumbled as he tossed and turned in his bed.

Lorcan scoffed but secretly smiled, as did Lysander. The 3rd year twins loved their little sister to bits (even if she was annoying at times). How could they not, what with her baby face, unique personality, and passionate energy that lit up even the darkest room? She was also a bit eccentric, even for the Scamander family.

"What on earth is going on here?" a lyrical Irish voice asked as the lights were turned on.

Lydia turned to see her mother in a vegan-friendly-silk, flowing white nightgown; Luna had grown to be an ethereal beauty that still retained the innocence she held as a student.

"It's the first day of September!" she squealed again.

Luna couldn't help but giggle at her little rabble-rousing angel. Lydia very much reminded her of herself as a child, but Luna always treated her family members as individuals.

"Lorcan! Lysander! Wake up, you two," Lydia continued as she jumped off of the bed.

"And don't forget to jump on your beds a bit before you get dressed. It can help fend off the wrackspurts you got from your sleep."

As the burst of lightning rushed downstairs to pack, the twins tossed and turned in their beds.

"Do we have to get up now, mum?" Lysander grumbled.

"Not quite, but I would like to talk to you two about your sister sometime before we leave."

"What about?" Lorcan asked as he sat up suddenly.

"Is she okay?"

Luna nodded and sat down on Lysander's bed as the two teens gathered near her.

"I know you two love your sister a lot and I know you like it when she looks to you for help."

The twins nodded.

"But Lydia's eleven and it's time that she finds out more about who she is. That means you ought to give her some space. I don't want you two hovering over her every second of every day; she's told me it exhausts her a bit."

"But mum," Lorcan gasped.

"Lydia's...different, very different. And you know how the kids at Hogwarts often are. She'll be torn to shreds by the end of the week if we don't help her."

"And I think that's very sweet of you to have such a strong desire to protect her, especially given how different she is, but I have a feeling she can handle her own a bit as well. I can see that she values staying true to herself, much like you two, and that's something that may inspire others to see from another point of view like she does and it will make her happy. You two can help her, of course. Just please promise me you won't be hovering over her constantly."

The two looked at each other and nodded.

"We promise," they answered in reluctant unison.

"Thank you," Luna said with a smile as she kissed each of the teens on the forehead.

"Now, why don't you two get a little more shut eye while I talk to my little lightning bolt downstairs? Be dressed by 9:15 please; we'll be going out to eat and then heading to the platform."

"Alright," they answered as Luna stood up and left the room.

 **6:15 am**

By the time Luna was downstairs and in the living room, Lydia was already dressed and ready to go. She had on her favorite dress patterned in _Quibbler_ magazine covers, courtesy of her Granddad Xenophilius of course, her Pride of Portree team socks with golden snitch wings coming out of the hem, her mum's shoes that were stolen from the Nargles many, many times, her butterbeer cork necklace, a purple, autumn coat, and her mum's spectrespecs which were still in nearly great condition. The girl sat on the pine tree-green living room couch as she read through one of her brothers' old textbooks.

"Did you take that book out of your brothers' room?" Luna asked amusingly.

Lydia gasped as she heard her mother. Scrambling, she attempted to hide the book under the couch cushions and looked up at her mother with big, innocent, doe-like eyes, made bigger through her glasses.

"What book?" she asked sweetly.

Luna gave a loving giggle as she came over and sat down beside her daughter.

"How are you feeling this morning? Excited?" she asked.

Lydia nodded, but in a hesitant fashion. Luna could sense that there was more to the story than what she was seeing.

"Is there something wrong?" Luna asked her.

Her daughter shook her head, then stopped and nodded.

"I'm just...nervous, I suppose. What if I get put in the wrong house?"

Luna felt a small sense of relief; she knew this was a common question among first years.

"You need not worry about that. There's no right or wrong house."

"But what if I get put in Slytherin? I know not all Slytherins are evil, but they still have a bad reputation. I'm also worried that you and dad and my brothers won't like me if I get put into the wrong house."

This made Luna feel a bit sad. Due to certain events and conditions, Lydia had been bullied very regularly, forcing her to become a bit weary of her actions, up to the point where, somedays, she faked sick to skip primary school classes. It got so bad that Luna and Rolf ended up taking her out of public school and teaching her themselves. Luna took ahold of her daughter's right hand and rubbed it gently.

"Oh, Lydia. I'm so sorry you feel this way," she said sympathetically.

"But your father and I and the twins; we love you very, very much and we always will, no matter what house you're sorted into. You're right in that Slytherins hold a bad outlook for some, but you're also right in that not all Slytherins are evil."

"But He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named came from that house, didn't he?"

"Of course he did, but that doesn't mean everyone who comes out of Slytherin is evil. And not every evil person is fully evil. Lydia, my dear girl, we will still love you regardless of what house you end up in."

Lydia looked up at her mum and smiled gently as she embraced her.

"Thanks, mum," Lydia said as a small tear rolled down her face.

"You're welcome," Luna replied.

"Now I'd best go check on your father. Be to check you have everything."

Lydia nodded as Luna kissed her on the forehead.

 **7:15 am**

"Lorcan?" Lysander asked as the boys were getting ready.

"Yeah?" Lorcan replied as he struggled to pull on his Ravenclaw socks and triple-check his suitcase again.

"I've been thinking about what mum said."

"About Lydia?"

"Yeah."

"What about it?"

"I'm not so sure Lydia can handle her own."

"Ah, that's just the Hufflepuff in you talking."

"I mean it. You know how she is; I know our family's seen as pretty eccentric, but she's seen as by far the most eccentric. If it weren't for that bloody neurologist and the diagnosis-"

"Lysander, just because she's on it doesn't mean she fits the stereotypes. Though she does have a lot of interest in a lot of interests. And she's not very socially intelligent at times. But even so, it's barely noticeable."

"But if it becomes noticed-"

"-it won't-"

"-IF it becomes noticed, the rest of her year could tear her apart."

"That's not saying it will be noticed."

"But it's not saying it won't."

"Okay, so there's a chance it could become noticed, but what are we supposed to do about it? We promised mum we wouldn't hover over her constantly."

Lysander paused for a moment before he shook his head.

"I dunno, and that's what's the scariest. On top of it, it means she doesn't really know when someone could be a danger to her. You remember when she was almost kidnapped?"

Lorcan sighed.

"Look, so far we don't know if it will be noticed, so right now, there's nothing we can do. Let's just finish getting ready; we can talk more about this later on."

 **7:45**

Lydia turned the last page of the textbook she had swiped from her brothers and groaned in frustration.

"Now what am I going to do?" she asked.

She began to kick her legs in boredom when something on one of the bookshelves caught her eye. She went over to the shelf and tried to reach it. She ended up having to jump for it, but in her hands was a fair-sized, red faux-leather book. It felt cool in her hands and emitted a distinct scent of aged parchment.

Opening to the first page, she was surprised to discover there was no name on it. Actually, there was a small, smudged, splatter of ink on the front page. Alongside it were three, animated pictures in faded color; one was of a pale-skinned, dreamy, silver-eyed, dirty-blonde, teenaged girl who seemed to merely be staring off in the distance; her hair would sway lightly on occasion and her head would move in such a way that it seemed enchantingly hypnotic. Around her in rose-red ink, a passionate heart had been drawn very delicately. Another was a teenaged boy with swarthy skin, light brown hair and green eyes. His picture seemed to have been crossed out very violently in blood-red ink. He attempted to peek out from behind, but always seemed to be just out of her full sight. The third picture seemed to have been deliberately shaded out with black ink. Lydia tried to clean it off, but to little avail; only a small portion was uncovered, but it was a bit difficult to tell for sure what it was.

There was something very familiar about the first two. Lydia recalled her mum and dad in her mind's eye and saw the resemblances; were these teenagers her mum and dad? It seemed a logical explanation to her.

 _But who would do this? Why do mum and dad have this?_ _And who is the man in the middle?_

She knew it wasn't right, but Lydia had an innate sense of curiosity that couldn't be extinguised. Quickly and quietly, she grabbed the book and stuffed it into the nearest bag on her trolley. Her owl screeched in objection.

"Shh!" she hushed in a panic.

"Do you want me to get into trouble, Ide?"

Ide shook her cage a bit, but Lydia held it firm. The wild, snowy owl settled down just as the twins were bringing out their trolleys.

"You ready, Lyd?" Lysander asked.

"Of course I am," she replied.

"It took you two long enough."

"I packed up the night before," Lorcan pointed out.

"It was Lysander who didn't want my help last night."

"Plans are dull and unnecessary," Lysander yawned.

"That's why I packed whenever I had time."

"Oh please. You spent almost your whole summer on that one muggle site-"

"It's not a muggle site! It's got moving pictures!"

"That's because muggles make them move."

"And anyway, I thought you'd like their standard theme, what with your house colors-"

"That is not the true blue of a Ravenclaw and you know it."

"You're just jealous because I found it first!"

"Am not!"

"Are so!"

"Am not!"

"Are so!"

"AM NOT!"

"ARE SO!"

At this point, they had begun sort-of play slapping each other, which made Lydia giggle and then fall down on the ground in lyrical laughter. All of a sudden, the lights began to brighten and flicker between normal and bright, but the twins were too caught up in their fight to notice.

"What is going on here?" the voice of their mother exclaimed.

The twins froze mid-fight with their hands in mid-slap and, moving only their eyes, looked to see their mother and father in the doorway. As the lights returned to normal, Lydia stood up, trying to stifle her laughter as she sat down on a nearby chair; watching the twins try to bail themselves out of trouble was always a fun time.

"Oh," Lorcan exclaimed.

"Hi, mum. Hi, dad. I was just...uh...teaching Lysander...a muggle game. It's called, er,...Okey-Dokey, right?"

The twins had both begun to blush at this point and Lydia had to bite her tongue to hold back her giggles.

"Oh yeah, it's really fun. We were just at the part where he was teaching me the hand motions. But he's gonna probably wait to teach me the rest on the train."

The twins gave each other angry and knowing looks, put their hands down, and raced to their trollies.

"Well, alright then. Are we ready?" Rolf asked.

The three children and Luna nodded in agreement and Rolf walked over to the fireplace. He murmured something under his breath and a driver's panel appeared with buttons and cranks and knobs and levers and a pirate's wheel. The Scamanders never could stay in one place for too long, what with their desires for exploration and both Luna and Rolf's magizoology jobs, so they decided to make their house a mobile home, so to speak. Rolf muttered something else and the family felt a cloaking wave wash over the house in order to avoid being sighted by muggles. Then he began to turn one of the cranks and the house began to rise up off of the ground and into the sky.

Lydia ran over to an open window as their house began to rise up into the air. She had seen this happen so many times before, but it still always excited her when they flew.

"I'm flying! I'm flying!" she gasped.

She leaned out the open window to get a better view, but felt herself lean out a bit too far. Thankfully Lorcan and Lysander pulled her back inside just in time.

"You need to be more careful, Lydia," Lysander told her.

"But it looks so magical!" she pointed out.

"You do this every single time I try to get a good view."

"That's because it's dangerous and we don't want you getting hurt," Lorcan added.

"How about you sit over there and read or something?"

"Because I read all of your textbooks already."

"Well, why don't you go read them again?"

"What's the point if I'm not gonna learn anything new from them?"

"Hey. Don't judge a book by its obvious contents. You might've missed something."

She pouted as she grabbed the nearest textbook from his trolley and flopped onto the nearest couch. Despite their mobile home, King's Cross was still a few ways away. It was also especially important that they start traveling now because this would be her first pre-term breakfast with her granddad Xenophilius, meaning they would have to travel to her mum's childhood home in Ottery St Catchpole first and Lydia didn't have much patience when it came to her first day of term.

Not finding anything, she closed her eyes, focusing on the cool zephyr coming in through the open windows. Eventually she simply let her mind wander and nod off.


	2. Chapter 2

"Lydia? Lydia," Luna said gently as she brushed away some of the hair that had gotten in her daughter's face.

Lydia groaned and tiredly tried to slap away the hands, but ended up slapping the textbook instead.

"Wake up, sweetheart. We're here."

In an instant, Lydia shot up and ran to the window. Indeed there it was; Ottery St. Catchpole, the home where her mum grew up. Despite the incident with the Snatchers, it had managed to be repaired and now it looked like there had never been any Snatchers anywhere nearby.

"We're here! We're here!" she exclaimed excitedly as she jumped up and down, flapping her hands.

Her mother smiled at this as Lorcan grabbed the textbook from the couch. Lydia had such a beautiful aura of innocence and childlike wonder about her, but Luna knew that Lydia was just as capable as the twins at learning new things about the world. She just needed **some** guidance.

Rolf, by this time, had managed to put away the steering mechanisms of the house and make it to the front door of the rook-shaped house.

"C'mon, Lyds," Lysander called out to her from the front door.

Hearing this she stopped and ran over to him.

"I told you not to call me that, dorko!"

"And I told **you** not to call me dorko. Lorcan's the dorko, if anything."

"I heard that!" Lorcan said.

"I know. I meant for you to hear it!"

Lydia giggled at her brothers' bickering. They were both dorkos in her mind. But they were her dorko brothers.

"Come along everyone!" Rolf called cheerfully.

Lydia rushed out ahead of the others and knocked on the door. She started jumping up and down and flapping again in excitement. Xenophilius was, without a doubt, her favorite family member outside of her immediate family. He was always the one who would be the first to intently listen to her passionately speak about her interests such as the history of Quidditch, magical creatures, musical theatre, secret codes/passageways/rooms/etc,., and much more.

The door opened and in the arch, still looking the same as he had when the snatchers had attacked, was her grandfather Xenophilius Lovegood.

"Hello! Hello," he exclaimed excitedly.

Lydia squealed ecstatically and hug-attacked him.

"Oh my goodness!" he gasped with a giggle.  
"It seems this fireball faerie is quite excited to see me."

Lydia looked up at him and nodded excitedly before hugging him some more.

Luna, who had caught up by this time, laughed warmly.

"It seems so," she agreed.  
"Alright, Lydia. The rest of us want to hug Grandad Xenophilius too."

"I do believe your mother is right," Xenophilius concurred.  
"Why don't you go out back and see if you can spot some faeries? They're usually around this part of the globe this time of year. I'll call you when breakfast is ready."

"Okay!" Lydia said excitedly jumping off and running around to the back.

"She's quite a ball of energy, isn't she?" he panted.

"Well, you know how she is. She always gets so excited to see you," Luna giggled.  
"Daddy, how are you?"

He and Luna gave a short, but sweet hug.

"Oh, I needed a bit of childlike energy around here, so a bit better. She takes after you, Luna."

"It seems so, though I don't think I was that excited around relatives as she is."

"Hi, grandad," the twins said simultaneously.

Luna smiled as the boys came up and started to shake her dad's hand, but ended up going into a hug. Ginny was right. They were a lot like Fred and George, only dorkier and they argued a bit more. And not red-headed.

"Ah, it's the faemen of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw," he said lovingly.  
"How are you?"

The twins gave each other a slightly-uneasy look.

"Rolf, Luna, would you two keep watch over breakfast?" Xenophilius asked.  
"It's plimpy-shaped pancake day. I'll stay here with the boys."

"Ooh!" Luna squealed excitedly jumping up and down and flapping her hands.  
"Thank you, daddy! Plimpy-shaped pancakes are some of my favorites. Come on, Rolf!"

Giggling Luna and Rolf skipped into the kitchen.

"Some things never change," Xenophilius sighed as he happily shook his head.

He turned back to the twins and gestured for them to sit down on the steps. He soon followed suit and clasped his hands together.

"Alright," Xenophilius said.  
"What's got you two uncertain?"

The twins glanced at each other again.

"It's Lydia," they both said.

"What about her?"

"Well," Lorcan began.  
"We love her to death, autism and all, but we know that the other kids can be cruel."

"We want to help and protect her," Lysander added.  
"But mum told us not to hang over her."

"Ah," Xenophilius said.  
"I was the same when your mum started Hogwarts, but she was fine and didn't take the kids' words to heart much. And like your mum, Lydia's a free spirit. I'm sure she'll find comfort in some of the creatures."

* * *

Speaking of creatures, Lydia was out back and far in the grass on the lookout for faeries. She felt quite calm around them and found she could relate to them more. There was some food she was very sensitive to and couldn't eat those foods if she tried.

"Fae? Fae?"

Part of her saying "fae" was also one way she stimmed. Lydia knew she was autistic and embraced all of it, even the bad parts of it. She took it as a learning experience, a chance to know more about herself.

"Fae?"

 _"Lydia?"_

There she was in front of her, the silver-haired fairy Lydia had named her owl after. She spoke to Lydia in the language of the fae folk. By now Lydia had a grasp on the more complex words. She'd been studying it since she found out she could speak it.

 _"Ide?"_ Lydia replied back.  
 _"How are you?"_

 _"Good, I can sense autumn is peeking roundst the corner. And you?"_

 _"Nervous and excited. It's my first day at school. I'm going to Hogwarts where my mum and dad went to school."_

 _"Oh! That reminds me,"_ Ide said fearfully.  
 _"I must warn you. The oracle has seen dangerous romance in your near future."_

 _"How do you mean 'dangerous romance'?"_

 _"Someone from the dark side, their heart you will steal. I cannot describe the intensity which this dark one shall feel."_

 _"Anything else?"_

 _"Yes, this one is related to someone who sought after one close to you."_

 _"My mum?"_

 _"Aye. Be careful. Don't sing aloud. Always watch your back."_

 _"You know me, Ide. I think I'll be fine."_

 _"Oh, such innocence. It's something you shall never fully lose."_

 _"I'm not that innocent, am I?"_

 _"If you have to ask, the answer is yes. Quite so."_

 _"Fair enough."_

"Lydia?" Xenophilius called from the back doors.  
"Breakfast is ready."

 _"Ide, I must go. Will you visit me at Hogwarts?"_

 _"I shall try. Faire thee well."_

 _"And to you too."_

Lydia skipped back towards the house, while Ide's words bounced around in her head.

"Dangerous romance," she said, tasting the words. To her they seemed burnt and smoky.  
"This year's already off to an exciting start."

* * *

"Slow down, Lydia," Luna gasped as Lydia wolfed down her plimpy-shaped pancakes.  
"You'll give yourself a stomach ache if you eat that quickly."

"Sorry," Lydia said after she swallowed a bit of pancake.  
"I'm just so excited to go to Hogwarts."

"I know you are, sweetheart," Luna told her.  
"I was the same way too, but if you give yourself a stomach ache, you won't want to try the treats on the Hogwarts Express."

Hearing this, Lydia dropped her fork in midair.

"There are treats on the train?" she gasped.

"Yup," Lorcan replied.  
"A trolley comes down the aisle with a bunch of sweets."

"Why didn't you two tell me?" Lydia questioned the twins.

"I thought Lorcan did," Lysander said.

"We agreed you were going to tell her."

"No, we agreed you would."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Alright, that's enough," Rolf said gently.  
"You're both nearly fourteen, far too old to be arguing like this. When you get back from Hogwarts, I'll teach you the art of civil discussion."

"But that's not as fun as watching them go at each other!" Lydia groaned.

"I'm sure they'll slip up on occasion," Luna consoled her.  
"Now hurry and finish, boys. Your sisters getting anxious."

* * *

Almost two hours later, Lydia stood with her brothers on Platform 9 3/4. Going through the pillar was easy, but getting on without crying was difficult.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Luna asked her kindly as she knelt down beside her.  
"Aren't you excited to go to school?"

Lydia nodded with a sniffle and looked up at her mum with her doe-like eyes,

"Yeah, but I'm gonna miss you, mum."

"Oh, dear. I can imagine it must be difficult leaving us, but I promise your dad and I will write to you and you'll see us again for winter holidays."

At this, Lydia's eyes shone bright and her smile lit up. Winter holidays were the best. As Rolf's side of the family was Jewish and Luna's was Christian/agnostic, they celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas, which included getting to see great-grandpa Newt and great-grandma Tina along with great-grandaunt Queenie and great-granduncle Jacob. And for her, it also included sneaking off in the nighttime with Ide and spending time for faerie winter holidays in their world. It was always a fun time of year and Lydia treasured every second of it.

"You're right. And great-grandpa Newt will be there, won't he?" Lydia cheered, as she started jumping and flapping her hands.  
"And he and I can talk more about magical creatures!"

Lorcan and Lysander noticed Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter, two fifth-years Slytherins, giving Lydia weird looks. The two went up to them.

"Hey! What are you looking at?" Lysander questioned.

"Nothing," Albus said.  
"It's just that girl is acting kinda strange."

"Strangeness is relative, Albus," Lorcan pointed out.  
"We're strange to muggles and no-majs."

"Yeah," Scorpius said.  
"But no wizard or witch does that and-why are there purple sparks coming from her hands."

Lorcan and Lysander turned to see Lydia, still flapping her hands, emitting purple sparks and seemingly floating off of the ground a tad.

"Is **that** your sister?" Albus asked.

"Yes, **she** is," Lysander barked.  
"And we love her to death. Listen here, you mess with her, you mess with us."

"Isn't that woman beside her Luna Lovegood?" Scorpius inquired.

"Yes. You got a problem with that?"

"Not surprised. My father always said that looniness is a genetic illness in the Lovegood line. That girl must be tainted with it."

"Scorpius, what the hell is wrong with you?" Albus exclaimed suddenly.  
"She may be weird, but that's no reason to call her tainted. You're not usually like this."

Scorpius spaced out for a bit, and then shook his head.

"Sorry. Dunno what came over me just then."

"Assholery, that's what came over you," Lorcan told him.  
"Listen. Our sister, Lydia, is autistic and what she's doing is completely natural with autistic people. We'd appreciate if you keep your traps shut about her being weird. She's just being herself and if you have a problem with that, that's your own damn fault."

There was a moment of silence as the two Slytherins tried to understand that one particular word.

"Autistic? Never heard of it," Albus said stunned

"Me neither," Scorpius shrugged.

"Yeah, autism's not well-known in the wizarding world," Lysander sighed.  
"Sorry about our confrontation. We just don't like people thinking Lydia is anything bad."

"It's fine," Albus said.  
"I'm sure autism can be great. I mean, she seems like she's happy."

"I guess I'm being too judgmental," Scorpius sighed.

"Right," Lorcan said.  
"We'll see you two later."

Lorcan and Lysander headed back over to their parents. Luna had seen the whole thing from a distance.

"What was going on over there?" she inquired.

"Albus and Scorpius were giving Lydia weird looks," Lorcan admitted.  
"So we told them to knock it off."

"Now, boys, I told you not to be over-protective."

"We're not being overprotective," Lysander defended.  
"We just don't want people to think she's anything bad."

"And I think that's sweet. But hanging over Lydia isn't going to be good for her. Remember what I told you."

"Alright," the two said simultaneously.

Just then the train whistle blew and, giving them one last hug and kiss each, Lydia said goodbye to her parents and Xenophilius and jumped onto the train. Lorcan and Lysander followed suit.

"Goodbye!" Rolf called.  
"Be sure to write us home."

"Tell me if the nargles steal any of your things," Luna called out.

They kept waving goodbye until the train was out of sight.


	3. Chapter 3

As the train sped along the tracks, Lydia skipped off to find a compartment, but every single one seemed to be full of other witches and wizard chatting happily, some new and slightly timid, others returning and ready. Finally she reached the end of the train and spotted a pretty girl with dark red hair sitting alone and staring out the window.

Lydia was a bit nervous. Social skills never really came easy for her and before her mum pulled her out of public school, social skills classes had made her a bit frightened of strangers, as she was scared that saying the wrong thing could scare them away. The faeries didn't mind it and neither did her family, but this girl seemed to be neither. She certainly didn't seem like any family she knew, at least. Maybe she was a faerie.

"Excuse me," Lydia asked, peeking her head inside.

"Is it alright if I sit here? Everywhere else seems to be full."

"Of course," the girl said smiling.

Lydia sat down opposite of the girl and smiled.

"I'm Willow, by the way. Willow Waverly."

"I'm Lydia. Lydia Scamander."

Willow gasped as she heard this.

"What is it? Did I say something wrong?" Lydia asked, nervously.

"No, you're fine. It's just...you're from THE Scamander family? As in Newt Scamander, author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?"

Lydia nodded. The girl seemed nice enough.

"I don't really see much of him, though. Mostly during winter holidays. We celebrate Hanukkah and then Christmas with him great-grandma Tina, great-grandaunt Queenie, and great-granduncle Jacob."

She stared out the window and thought of how great-grandaunt Queen could always tell what she and others were thinking.

"I wish I had some of great-grandaunt Queenie's ability."

"What do you mean?"

Lydia turned back to face the girl, using the one technique that helped her when eyes became too much to look at; staring at their nose.

"My great-grandaunt Queenie's a legilimens. She can tell what everyone is thinking. I'm the exact opposite. I'm autistic, so things like how other people I don't really know are feeling are difficult to figure out."

"Autistic?"

"It's a disorder that gives me trouble with social skills. I usually want people to be patient with me if I try to figure out what they're feeling."

"Well, I'm willing to be patient with you."

"Does that mean...are we...you know...?"

Lydia couldn't seem to find the word. All she knew was it was the one thing she never had in public school.

"Friends?" Willow asked.  
"If you want to be."

Lydia nodded quickly.

"I'd love to, if you want to."

"Well, you seem like a kind and interesting person, so yes. Why else would I have asked?"

Hearing this, Lydia started smiling, while flapping her hands and bouncing in her seat. This made Willow smile, but her smile made Lydia stop.

"Why'd you stop?" Willow asked, a bit disappointed.

"Because all of the social skills classes told me that this was wrong."

"You're fine," Willow said.  
"That's just who you are. It's them who are wrong."

Hearing this, Lydia resumed smiling and flapping. All of a sudden, she screamed as she felt her feet lift off of the ground.

"What's wrong?" Willow asked.

"My-my feet!"

Sparkles were underneath her feet. Willow gasped at this.

"Wicked!"

"You don't find it weird?"

"I've seen a lot of weird things in life. This is surprising, though."

"You must've been to a lot of places."

"Mostly the internet."

"My brothers showed me that," Lydia exclaimed.

"They showed me one with moving pictures, so we thought it was a wizarding site at first. I even made an account on there. Anyway, what house are you hoping for?"

Willow shrugged.

"I don't really care. I just hope that it'll be a good one."

"I think all of them have the potential to be good. Personally, I think I'd belong in anywhere but Slytherin. I'm not too ambitious."

All of a sudden, another girl came over to their compartment. She wore a light brown, near pixie cut and had on somewhat-thick framed glasses.

"Hey," she greeted them.

"Can I sit with you girls please? The boys in my compartment are being arseholes."

"Sure," Willow nodded.

"I'm Willow, by the way. Willow Waverly."

The girl flopped down next to Willow. She wore a dark-green hoodie and black leggings and a pair of Doc Martens. Lydia thought she looked quite comfy.

"I'm Lydia," she said.

"Lydia Scamander."

"Cool," the girl nodded.

"Emma line Corbyn, but most call me Emma or Em. First years?"

Willow and Lydia nodded.

"Me too. You excited?"

They nodded again which made Emmaline give a chuckle.

"Not very talkative, are you?"

"Oh no, I am," Lydia replied eagerly.

"If you get me on the right topic, of course. I'm autistic so I have things I'm really interested in."

"Autistic? Not very heard of in the wizarding world. How's your family about that?"

"Oh, they're very kind to me," Lydia said, beaming.

"They embrace me wholeheartedly, especially because my mum's also autistic."

"What'd you say your last name was?" Emmaline asked.

"Scamander."

"No way," Emmaline gasped.

"Yes," Lydia nodded.

"So you related to Newt Scamander?"

Lydia nodded eagerly.

"That sounds wicked."

"He's not wicked!" Lydia said defensively.

"It's just an expression," Willow explained to Lydia nonchalantly.

"In this case, it means cool or awesome."

"Oh," Lydia said in awe.

"How do you know about lingo like that?"

"You just gotta practice using it, is all," Emmaline said shrugging.

All of a sudden, they heard a thud outside their compartment. Lydia shot up when she saw a tall, handsome boy with brushed-back, dark-brown hair on the ground. She stepped outside and held out her hand.

"Are you okay? What happened?" she asked out of concern as he took it; it felt cold against her warm hand.

"Oh, thank you," he said in a low, purring voice.

"I'm fine. Some arsehole simply tripped me when I was walking throughout the train hall."

"I'm sure it was just a mistake," Lydia shrugged cheerfully.

"I'm Lydia, by the way. Lydia Scamander."

She held out her hand again and he took it firmly.

"Lucius," he purred.

"Lucius Riddle."

"That's a unique name," Lydia said in awe.

"It sounds really cool."

"Why thank you. My parents picked it out for me."

Lydia, finding this amusing, started laughing and flapping her hands whilst jumping in place.

"You are funny!" she shrieked.

"And you are sweet," he purred.

This made Lydia stop and feel a flush of heat wash through her as her cheeks turned red.

"Thank you," she said kindly.

"That's so kind of you."

Without thinking, she grabbed him in a warm embrace until she realized what she was doing and backed off.

"Why did you stop?" Lucius ask sadly.

"I was told to ask before I hugged people."

"No, it's fine. I liked it. It was very sweet."

He smiled gently at her.

"First year?" he asked.

She nodded eagerly.

"Me too. Hopefully we'll see each other around."

"Okay," Lydia giggled as her cheeks beamed red.

He gently took ahold of her hand and left a kiss on top of it.

"Until we meet again," he whispered romantically before he glided off back to a compartment.

For a few moments, Lydia stood with a dreamy smile on her face before skipping back into her compartment.

"Well," Emmaline exclaimed with a knowing smile.

"Someone's in love."

"No," Lydia giggled shaking her head.

"He's just a sweet boy."

"What's his name?" Willow asked eagerly.

"Lucius. Lucius Riddle."

Silence brushed throughout the compartment as Willow and Emmaline looked at each other in worry.

"What? Was it something I said?" Lydia asked, tilting her head.

"Um," Willow began apprehensively.

"I'd stay away from him, if I were you. He may not be the best kind of person to hang around with."

"Why not?"

"Because Riddle's the last name of You-Know-Who," Emmaline answered.

"It could just be a coincidence," Lydia shrugged.

"He seems...sweet. He kissed my hand before he left."

She held it out as if there was some sort of imprint or indication that he left.

"I'd still stay clear of him, if you can," Emmaline said.

"A boy who does that on the first meeting, especially one with hair and a face like that, can only bring trouble."

"I don't think you're judging fairly," Lydia pointed out.

"We barely know him."

"Better to be safe than sorry," Willow added.

Lydia sighed and shook her head.

"I think you two are just being a bit paranoid."

"We just want you to be safe," Willow said.

"I mean, we're all friends now, right? And friends are supposed to look out for one another. I just really don't want you to get hurt."

"Me neither," Emmaline replied sincerely.

"You two sound like my brothers," Lydia giggled.

"They're so overprotective of me."

"Well, they may have good reason. At least promise that you won't actively go looking out for this boy."

Lydia gave this some thought.

"I don't know if you really should be worried, though."

"Please?" Willow asked, pleadingly.

"We just want you to be safe."

Sophie nodded in agreement. Lydia huffed in defeat. There was no way she was going to be able to convince them.

"Fine. I'll try not to search him out."

"Thank you," Willow smiled.

As the girls talked the rest of the way, Lydia couldn't help but replay the conversation they had. She wasn't sure why Willow and Emmaline were so worried. He didn't hurt her or tease her. He was downright pleasant and kind, in fact. In her mind, Lucius wasn't anything but a sweetheart of a boy.

 _I wonder what he's doing now,_ she thought as she gazed dreamily out the window.

* * *

Meanwhile in a compartment closer to the front, a group of pureblooded Slytherins and soon-to-be Slytherins were congregating about secrets about the castle when a boy with dark-brown hair stepped inside with a triumphant smile on his face.

"What's got you so happy?" one of the boys asked.

"I found her," he replied.

"Already?" another scoffed.

"You're kidding."

The boy shook his head as he sat down beside them.

"You had no idea how many compartments I had to pretend to trip by to find her. She looks exactly as Father described. Almost like her mother, in fact. Acts lots like her too. Only differences are a bit more baby face and glasses."

"But isn't that what your father said to look for?" asked the first.

The boy nodded.

"Anyway, I did, but she's even more perfect than I imagined. Can you believe we might have that kind of blood in our family?"

"You mean, she-?"

"It's very probable. Very common in females of that bloodline. Plus she's a pureblood. On top of it, she's so incredibly innocent that this plan might work even more quickly."

"Score!"

The boys high-fived each other in triumph.

"Wait until Father hears about this," the boy said victoriously.

"Soon they shall rise once again. And by that time, she'll have fallen so deeply for me, her loyalties will change like that."

He gave a snap of his fingers as he said this last word.

"To be honest," he said smiling sadly.

"I do feel a little bad about this, but just a little. I mean, she's actually really sweet, just like her mother."

"Did you get a name?"

The boy nodded triumphantly.

"Scamander. Lydia Scamander."


End file.
